1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 133. The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet (1968)

 

Pondering the title, I suppose a “beggar’s banquet” would be a crust of old bread or something like that, but this album is much better than that. Starting with the classic Sympathy For The Devil, which I think kind of gives away the question “can’t you guess my name?” asked in the song, where the Devil basically says, hey, spreading human misery is just my job, don’t hate me for it. Probably pretty daring for the time and sure to make some conservative-types' heads explode, especially coupled with its driving Afro-beat rhythm. I do like a song that gradually builds in the instruments (see also Jethro Tull’s Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day), and that’s what this does, although there aren’t many layers. The conga rhythm, the piano, the woo-woos, and some bass (plus a scratchy guitar break).

The other famous track is Street Fighting Man, probably the rockiest number on here. Most of the rest are a return to the Stones’ bluesy roots, with a bit of country as well e.g. No Expectations and Dear Doctor. The track Jigsaw Puzzle is like a pastiche of Dylan’s Desolation Row, full of various character known only by epiphets doing strange things (it ends with the Queen charging into a crowd of protesting grannies on a horse).

It felt at times not unlike Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, in that the tracks tended towards being more like extended jams and a little bit free-form rather than verse/chorus structures again, and also because of some of the instruments used and the mixing, it was a little less harsh and raucous compared to earlier Stones albums.

This one was apparently the last before the death of Brian Jones, who is barely on this album because his drug-fuelled behaviour was becoming so erratic that he was effectively useless as a recording artist. I wonder if that’s why this album, compared to Aftermath, this is a “cleaner” album, less druggy in nature? Well, I say cleaner. Stray Cat Blues is about chasing after an underage groupie and the first track pitches the Devil as the hero, so it’s still pleasingly anarchic.